Dear Precious Friends,
On this beautiful new day, this gift from God, I pray you are waking up knowing these truths. God is with us, He loves us so much and He has us here for a purpose. I recently saw this quote, "No one can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending" . I really began to think about that statement. The conclusion was that we don't start over; but we begin again right where we are, making things better in our lives.
As a believer in Christ, it is not about saying I will do this and I won't do that, It is more about asking the Lord to help us each day, to fall deeper and deeper in love with Him. This way our focus will be set on the things of heaven and not on all this earthly stuff.
As we focus on our New year and prepare our hearts by reflecting on the past year, embracing the present and asking the Lord for our focus on Him trusting Him with our future, I pray we will have a deeper commitment, a deeper love, and a deeper worship for the Lord.
This year may we be determined to make Him our all and all. He wants our undivided attention in spite of the distractions and temptations that lie waiting around the corner. He has to be our main focus. I pray He reminds us to number our days, live on purpose, value every second as we don't know how much time we have.
I pray He keeps us in the moment and we remember our life on earth is like a mist that appears shortly and disappears after that. Our life is so limited. Only one life will soon be past, only whats done for Christ will last. May we purposefully live on mission as His disciples, rejoicing in each new day, trusting Him with all our heart. It has been a tough time but He has us here for such a time as this!
May we be steadfast in starting each new day knowing God has a purpose for us, He doesn't want us to fret, or let our heart or mind be troubled, we are to turn to Him and be steadfast in starting each new day with Him and with gladness in our hearts despite circumstances. Steadfast describes when we take the attitude of Isaiah, who wrote, “But my work all seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose at all. Yet I leave it all in the Lord’s hand; I will trust God for my reward” (Isaiah 49:4). There is a peace which the world doesn’t understand, which is the result of steadfastly trusting God.
Steadfast is the attitude we have when we say, “No matter what my feelings tell me, or how dark the circumstances, I will put myself in the Lord’s hands and trust Him.” That’s when our heart is filled with peace.
If we find we’ve been wavering between looking up or looking at our circumstance, may we remind ourselves to back away from the chaos, find a quiet place and refocus. God never abandons us, He knows our name and telephone number, and that in His time He will deliver us from our challenges and show us His strength. Now may we get up and start moving— that’s what being steadfast is about.
May the joy of the Lord be our strength as our minds settle on Him for all our needs, for all our plans and for all He guides us to for today, tomorrow and for our New Year.
Amen.
